Friday, July 11, 2025

No Slipping

 

“He will not let your foot slip—he who
watches over you will not slumber…”
—Psalm 121:3

As we climb upward through the pathway of our lives, it’s important to do whatever we can to not slip and fall. I’m talking not only physically, but about “slipping” in regard to any of our four human modalities: heart, soul, mind, and strength—or, emotional, spiritual, intellectual, and physical.

Sometimes, at least in the physical modality, we can take precautions in the kinds of shoes we wear, or the use of some ambulatory aid, such as a cane or walker or wheel chair. Taking steps to protect us from slipping in our emotional, spiritual, and intellectual modalities takes a markedly different effort. Speaking of God, the Psalmist offers this helpful declaration, found in Psalm 121:3:

He will not let your foot slip—he who watches over you will not slumber …

As we begin a new day, let’s pray and ask God to keep us from slipping in all four of our human modalities. Then, let’s take whatever actions we can to avoid those situations where we might slip. After all, by relying on the Holy Spirit to keep us on the proper pathway of life, we can remain so much more useful to God, to others, and to ourselves.

 

Copyright © 2025 by Dean K. Wilson. All Rights Reserved.

 

Thursday, July 10, 2025

My Help Comes From The Lord

 

“I lift up my eyes to the hills—where does
my help come from? My help comes from the
Lord, the Maker of heaven and earth.”
—Psalm 121:1-2

Trouble always finds its way into everyone’s life. Even if we’ve led relatively peaceful lives, full of health and well-being, eventually we will have a time of trial in our lives. That just the way life is—sometimes quite peaceful and at other times a raging battle.

In our times of trouble, it is always appropriate for us to turn to God for help. After all, He is the One who created us. He knows every detail of our lives. He is the “Giver of Every Good and Perfect Gift.” He alone carries the destiny of our lives in the palms of His loving hands. We are not alone in seeking help from God when trouble knocks on the doors of our lives. Notice these words of the Psalmist, found in Psalm 121:1-2:

I lift up my eyes to the hills—where does my help come from? My help comes from the Lord, the Maker of heaven and earth.

Today, as a new day begins, each of us knows the trouble that may plague our lives. And, if we’re fortunate enough to currently enjoy a time of peacefulness in our lives, we certainly know others around us who are battling difficulties in their lives.

Let’s take time today to ask for God’s help—if not for ourselves, certainly for others. If we do so, we will find the calm assurance that He is the source of true help. He will provide whatever we need. And, we will be able to echo the words of the Psalmist:

My help comes from the Lord …

 

Copyright © 2025 by Dean K. Wilson. All Rights Reserved.

 

Wednesday, July 9, 2025

Nourishing Words

 

“The lips of the righteous nourish many,
but fools die for lack of judgment.”
—Proverbs 10:21

Have you ever felt badly about yourself only to have someone, who doesn’t know how you’re feeling, offer words of encouragement, even praise? Please let me explain:

I have spent most of my life generally feeling badly about myself. Before you jump to conclusions and suggest I seek professional help, I’ve done that and found that so-called “help” was a flop. (I’ve written about that experience in other blog posts.)

My study of Psychology has allowed me to come to an understanding of the root of these feelings of inadequacy and failure. And, I learned how I have compensated for them all my life by becoming a relatively high achiever. But, in the deep recesses of my heart, I still have vestiges of these lifelong feelings.

On occasion, when I have felt particularly bad about myself, God has very graciously sent someone across my pathway to speak a word of encouragement without even knowing how I was feeling about myself. Such words always bring a smile to my face and lift my spirits. That’s the power of nourishing words.

King Solomon understood how important a kind word can be to someone in need. Notice what he wrote, as recorded in Proverbs 10:21:

The lips of the righteous nourish many, but fools die for lack of judgment.

It’s true that when we speak words of encouragement and kindness to other people, we provide nourishment for their souls. That’s why we should never withhold our words of genuine appreciation. It is one of the opportunities that God gives us to show His love to others and to follow in the footsteps of His precious Son, Jesus.

Over the years, perhaps because I have felt about myself the way I do, I have learned to speak as many kind words to others as possible. I can even remember the first time I felt God nudging me to do so:

My dearly loved and deeply loved sister-in-law, now home with the Lord, was a wonderful, multi-talented artist. She was a very kind person, a devoted wife, a loving mother and grandmother, and was a truly amazing person. But, I believe that she harbored a sense that she wasn’t quite as worthy as other people. I think she truly thought that she wasn’t as smart as other people. After high school graduation, she had attended one year of art school, but had not attended a four-year college.

Now, in actual fact, she was a very intelligent woman—far more intelligent than many of the people to which she may have compared herself. Her intelligence was expressed beautifully in her amazing artistic creations. But, I’m quite certain she never fully realized how intelligent she was. Her lack of formal education was not a hindrance in any way to her creativity and excellence expressed in her magnificent works of art.

Almost 50 years ago, I once overheard her remark about how dumb she felt. Soon after that, when I was alone in the same room with her, I had an overwhelming sense from God that I needed to say something that I had long felt. So, I said to her, in a very quiet voice, that I was so proud of her, of her art, of her role as a mom, of the way she was lovingly raising her children, of her obvious love and devotion to her husband, and of the way she treated everyone with such kindness.

I imagine my words probably embarrassed her a bit. She didn’t quite know what to say to me in response. But, I knew that I had been obedient to God in speaking the words He had prompted me to say. And, I learned a very valuable lesson that day. I learned that speaking nourishing words is one of the things God expects us, as His ambassadors, to do in this world.

As we begin a new day, let’s consider the opportunities that God may give us to speak words of encouragement to others. Let’s not hold back when God nudges us to say a word that might lift someone’s spirit—not words of false praise, but genuine words that express the feelings in our hearts toward that person. We may never know how important our words of kindness might be to someone in need. And, we may never know how speaking such words may very well be one of God’s ways of bringing healing to our own needy hearts.

 

Copyright © 2025 by Dean K. Wilson. All Rights Reserved.

 

Tuesday, July 8, 2025

A Simple, Yet Profound, Benediction

 

“The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit. Amen.”
—Philippians 4:23

The New Testament writers of letters followed a tradition of Koine Greek literature by ending each letter with a phrase of blessing. These benedictions were intended to serve a purpose similar to that of the best friend, who ends a letter with the words:

“In deepest friendship.”

In some ways, it may seem like a simple gesture of politeness. But actually, these words of closing in the letters from the Apostles meant a very great deal to those reading these letters.

Some of the words of blessing were longer than others. In closing the letter to the Christians gathered at Philippi, the Apostle Paul chose to use what at first may appear as a quite simple phrase. However, upon closer examination, we can see how profound these words really are. Notice what Paul wrote, as recorded in Philippians 4:23:

The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit. Amen.

Here, Paul is asking God to grant to these new and struggling Christians the very essence of His grace, expressed through the death and resurrection of His one and only Son, Jesus. And, Paul is asking for this blessing to fall upon the innermost being of these new Christians.

As we begin a new day, let’s take these words of Paul and accept them by applying them to our own lives. Let us receive the blessing of Christ’s grace into the very depth of our own spirits. And, let’s allow His grace to enable us to will and to do of His good pleasure, as we faithfully serve as His ambassadors.

 

Copyright © 2025 by Dean K. Wilson. All Rights Reserved.

 

Monday, July 7, 2025

Give Ourselves Fully

 

“Therefore, my dear brothers (and sisters), stand
firm. Let nothing move you. Always give yourselves
fully to the work of the Lord, because you know
that your labor in the Lord is not in vain.”
—1 Corinthians 15:58

“The only way you will ever learn this material is if you give yourselves fully to studying it until it sinks into the core of your brain. That’s the way with anything in life that you truly deem as important.”

It was the first day of Advanced Mathematics class my senior year in high school. The teacher was Frederick Rehm. He handed us a thick textbook that contained an introduction to Calculus and intoned the above warning. His point? If we wanted to succeed in learning Calculus, we would have to intentionally determine to commit ourselves to whatever study was necessary to learn this higher form of mathematics.

Mr. Rehm was also right that in order to achieve any goal in life, it becomes necessary to devote oneself fully to meeting the objectives that lead to satisfying that goal. This is exactly what the Apostle Paul had in mind when he wrote these words found in 1 Corinthians 15:58:

Therefore, my dear brothers (and sisters), stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain.

As Christ’s ambassadors in this troubled and needy world, if we want to become the best possible representatives of our Lord, we must devote ourselves to the work of His Kingdom. Our devotion must be unswerving. We must invest time, talent, and ability if we are to succeed.

At the beginning of this new day, it seems worthwhile to ask ourselves this question:

“Are we willing to give our all for God’s Kingdom?”

 

Copyright © 2025 by Dean K. Wilson. All Rights Reserved.

 

Friday, July 4, 2025

True Victory in Jesus

 

“But thanks be to God! He gives us the
victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.”
—1 Corinthians 15:57

Every time I read the verse highlighted in today’s blog post, I remember a gospel song that we often sang at Wednesday night prayer meetings when I was growing up. Written by Eugene Bartlett with a delightful melody, this song expresses the essence of this verse of Scripture found in 1 Corinthians 15:57:

But thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.

Here’s that song: 1

I heard an old, old story,
How a Savior came from glory,
How He gave His life on Calvary
To save a wretch like me;
I heard about His groaning,
Of His precious blood’s atoning,
Then I repented of my sins
And won the victory.

Chorus: O victory in Jesus,
My Savior, forever.
He sought me and bought me
With His redeeming blood;
He loved me ere I knew Him
And all my love is due Him,
He plunged me to victory,
Beneath the cleansing flood.

I heard about His healing,
Of His cleansing pow’r revealing.
How He made the lame to walk again
And caused the blind to see;
And then I cried, “Dear Jesus,
Come and heal my broken spirit,”
And somehow Jesus came and bro’t
To me the victory.

Chorus: O victory in Jesus,
My Savior, forever.
He sought me and bought me
With His redeeming blood;
He loved me ere I knew Him
And all my love is due Him,
He plunged me to victory,
Beneath the cleansing flood.

I heard about a mansion
He has built for me in glory.
And I heard about the streets of gold
Beyond the crystal sea;
About the angels singing,
And the old redemption story,
And some sweet day I’ll sing up there
The song of victory.

Chorus: O victory in Jesus,
My Savior, forever.
He sought me and bought me
With His redeeming blood;
He loved me ere I knew Him
And all my love is due Him,
He plunged me to victory,
Beneath the cleansing flood.

May our hearts resound in a song of victory this day and every day.

 

______________________
Bartlett, Eugene M. “Victory in Jesus.” Powewll, MO: Brumley Music Publishers (Albert E. Brumley & Sons, Inc.), 1939, renewed 1967. This Hymn is also included in various Hymnals that are copyrighted by the publisher of the Hymnal. Citation of Copyrighted material is made on this blog post strictly for Educational Fair Use illustration purposes only. All Rights Reserved by the original Copyright Holder.

 

Copyright © 2025 by Dean K. Wilson. All Rights Reserved.

 

Thursday, July 3, 2025

No More Sting

 

“Where, O death, is your victory?
Where, O death, is your sting?”
—1 Corinthians 15:55

Honeybees have a well-earned reputation for having only one shot at inflicting pain. That’s because God created them with a barbed stinger that stays in the stung person or animal. Once they honeybees lose their stinger, they no longer pose a threat. In fact, in certain cases, the tearing off of that stinger results in the honeybee’s death.

Because of the resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ, death can only intrude into the lives of humans who belong to God just one time. When we pass from this earth to eternal life, that one-and-only sting is felt by all those we have left behind. But, for our own sakes, we are moving from this life to the next. We leave behind our sin-stained bodies and receive the final culmination of new life in Christ.

The power of the resurrection is expressed by the Apostle Paul this way in 1 Corinthians 15:55:

Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O death, is your sting?

For believers, Christ has defeated death. He has overruled its power. He has turned darkness to light. And, we who belong to Him through faith receive a great benefit. So, at the beginning of this new day, let’s rejoice that death no longer has an eternal hold on us. Rather, because our Savior overcame death, sin, and Satan, we will find that death’s sting is gone forever.

 

Copyright © 2025 by Dean K. Wilson. All Rights Reserved.